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Building condos with a Scarborough community in mind

After 10 years of planning and dreaming about home ownership, Monique Gittens can’t curb her enthusiasm for the new condo she’s purchasing in Scarborough.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so excited!” the 38-year-old says of her one-bedroom-plus-den suite on the seventh floor of ME2, a 28-storey tower in the master-planned community being built by the Lash Group of Companies at Markham and Ellesmere Rds.

“Accessible to everything,” it’s the “right place” to be, says Gittens, a catering business employee and freelance decor stylist who’s lived in a rental apartment at that location for three years.

“It isn’t just a condo building, it’s a whole complex ... that suits a lot of different lifestyles,” adds the busy career woman and ardent traveller.

Current plans for the development, called ME Living (after Markham/Ellesmere), comprise five condo towers, townhomes, shops and parks. This month marks the sales launch of the third phase, called Tricycle. (The first phase, called ME, is under construction; Gittens’s building, ME2, gets underway next year; both are sold out.)

Like its taller neighbours, the 14-storey Tricycle — a bit more upscale and boutique-style — will include downtown amenities minus the downtown price for those who prefer the suburban lifestyle, according to Lash president Larry Blankenstein.

With units starting in the mid-$300,000s, Tricycle will offer a variety of entertainment, leisure and fitness facilities — from a yoga studio and gym to a big party room and outdoor terrace.

Blankenstein is particularly pumped about the “million-dollar park” Lash is creating for public use at the south end of the site, on Brimorton Dr. City-owned, the recreational green space will include a water park, splash pad, outdoor gym, dog walk and playing field.

Another highlight is a tree-lined central courtyard where a pond, topped with a pedestrian bridge, will become a skating rink in winter.

“More families want to live in Scarborough,” he says, noting that purchasers of ME and ME2 include existing residents, as well as their friends and family members.

The opportunity for the Markham and Ellesmere intersection presented itself when two rental apartment buildings developed by Blankenstein’s father in the 1950s came due for replacement, he explains.

“People believe in it,” he says of ME Living, which an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 people will eventually call home.

While the third phase, Tricycle, will appeal to a demographic mix of downsizers, singles and young couples buying for the first time, it’s also “very family-oriented,” says interior designer Paul Davies, citing three-bedroom units and the seventh-floor private dining room that’s ideal for big gatherings.

Lobby areas are intended for 24-hour use, according to Davies, who suggests that study modules created there will give teenagers a place to do homework “away from the dining table.” Other amenities include a ground-floor Wi-Fi lounge, coffee bar and yoga studio, fitness facility, party room with gourmet catering kitchen, and terrace with barbecue, lounges and seating nooks.

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For Gittens, moving into a new home — as well as a new decade in 2020 — will be a significant milestone. She spent years searching downtown Toronto and other parts of the city for real estate with good investment potential. She discovered Lash’s community right under her nose 18 months ago.

“I thought, ‘Wow, here’s a new build that offers a little extra space and doesn’t feel like a box,’” she recalls, describing her suite’s open-floor plan and versatility that she bought for the “amazing price” of about $250,000.

“I’m attracted to the fact that I can live and play in the same place,” she says, listing transit, shopping, nearby employment, entertainment and recreation — including the pond/skating pad as part of the appeal.

Amenities: Grand lobby with seating, Wi-Fi lounge and coffee bar, yoga studio, fitness centre, party room, seventh-floor terrace, courtyard pond/skating area. There will be a total of 10,565 square feet of retail space in the first two towers.

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